You can also listen to the sermon at http://www.faithmineralpoint.org/faithevents.htm. Click on "FaithRadio 2/5/06"
"And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, 'Everyone is looking for you.' And he said to them, 'Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.' And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons." Mark 1:29-39, ESV
In today’s Gospel text Jesus lays out HIS effective pattern of ministry. What could be better for our congregation, than to copy the way our Lord and Savior ministered? A roadblock that keeps us from imitating Jesus is the baggage we have inherited from our European ancestors. Their method of ministry had political roots, rather than Biblical roots. In Norway, Sweden, Germany and other places the church ministered along political boundaries. For example, the State church of Norway is Lutheran. So everyone in the country is considered Lutheran. Then the geography was divided up into parishes and a church building was built at a central location. A pastor is appointed to the parish for the people in that geographical boundary. Neighboring towns are of no real concern to him.
This leads to a parish mindset rather than a mission mindset. Jesus did not operate in a small geographical region. To Jesus, the world was his parish. His commission to the disciples was to make disciples of all nations. They did this according to the leading of the Lord, which sometimes came in the form of dreams and visions, not through politics. Take, for example, Acts 16:9-10 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Like our European ancestors, we tend to center the ministry in our church building. We even call a building, rather than the people, a church. We seek to fill those buildings with people. We seek to minister to people in those buildings. In the process we chain ourselves to a post. We are not flexible enough to allow ourselves to be Spirit-led. What if the Holy Spirit wanted us to hold services in Dodgeville for a month…could we tear ourselves away from the building? See what I mean?
Let’s take a moment to see how Jesus ministered.
I. FLEXIBLE FACILITIES-JESUS DIDN’T OWN A BUILDING: verse 29a As soon as they left the synagogue. Jesus preached wherever he got the opportunity. He preached in the Jerusalem Temple, he preached on the streets, he preached in the Jewish synagogues, he preached in people’s homes. Remember the time Jesus healed the man brought to him on a pallet, lowered through the roof of a home where he was teaching to a packed house?
There is no evidence in Scripture that He ever commanded the New Testament church to build buildings. The early church met in small groups in homes and in large groups in public places. They developed small churches and appointed local leaders that they trained on site. These small bodies then developed and reproduced as the Lord led. Such a movement can spread like wildfire because of the flexibility of it all. You just have to get rid of the “bigger is better” mindset and adopt the “smaller may be better” approach.
The other day it dawned on me that we can do the same thing. If we feel led to minister in another town, all we need is a home to meet in (not a store front, not a rented room, a free home, a family room a garage if need be). I had this on my mind as I drove to the hospital in Madison last week. When I met with the Earl family I asked them if they felt it would be good to have a monthly Bible study in their home in Rewey. They thought it would be a great way to reach out to neighbors that don’t go to any church.
So you can see the power of preaching in available locations and being flexible enough to sense the leading of the Lord. So many churches have never materialized because they could not get land or a building or proper zoning. It doesn’t have to be that way if we get a vision for small groups in homes. Who knows, with such an arrangement we may be able to start a new church in a new area each month! Who will be the pastor of such churches? Point a finger at yourself and say, “Could it be me, Lord?” Jesus had FLEXIBLE FACILITIES.
The second thing I see here is the:
II. MINISTRY MANDATE-JESUS WAS QUICK TO MINISTER TO NEEDY PEOPLE: verses 29b-30 …they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So He went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
The MINISTRY is about MINISTRY. The command to preach the good news of the gospel has always been accompanied with the command to help the sick and the poor, the demon possessed and prisoners, the hungry and homeless. Some people have big stadium events to pray for the sick but I don’t think that is the Biblical ideal. I see in the Bible that local believers would gather around the sick and needy and help them. If there was faith for miracles, they would be prayed in. If there were the resources to help, they would be shared. It would be done in the context of neighbors that would give ongoing ministry.
The church is to glorify God by helping those in need…introducing new people Jesus…praying for them…being committed to them for the long run.
James, the brother of Jesus says: Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? James 2:15-16
Mark 1:32-34 tells us that helping Peter’s mother-in-law led to an opportunity to minister to many needy people. One healing led to an open door of ministry!
The same thing will happen to us if we go out into society and serve the people that are in the deepest need. Doors of ministry will open. Skeptics are not impressed with extravagant church buildings. But they take notice of a church that helps the poor, the sick and the homeless. Jesus modeled that for us. It is His MINISTRY MANDATE.
Also notice in our text the:
III. PRAYER PRIORITY-JESUS BATHED HIS MINISTRY IN PRAYER: verses 35-37 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"
Prayer was a priority for Jesus. He communed with the Father. He got guidance for the ministry. This is the example that Jesus has set for us.
There is no way that we can be an effective church if we don’t bathe everything in prayer. Our corporate prayer life is vital for our church’s future. We have many serious decisions to make. It is essential know the will of God.
Our forefathers did not set up the modern American churches that way. They developed committees and boards and meetings and voting rather than prayer time. This is certainly an orderly process but a unanimous vote of a board or even the entire church is no guarantee that we are doing the will of God. It is possible we all could be wrong. Once we start doing what we want to do rather than what God wants, the train is off the track. The end result is little fruit, little blessing…just lots of cost and effort and stress.
A church that is not doing the will of God might as well close down. It is a waste of time and money. It is a chore. But when we do what God wants, we operate with heaven-sent power. The barometer is joy. God’s will is not always easy but is ultimately joyful. That is why Jesus gave priority to prayer. That is why His ministry was so powerful. And he promised that we would do even greater works than He did if we operate in the Spirit and not the flesh. The key is a PRAYER PRIORITY.
So we have seen the:
FLEXIBLE FACILITIES
MINISTRY MANDATE
PRAYER PRIORITY
Finally we see the:
IV. TRAVELING TEACHING-JESUS PREACHED IN MANY PLACES: verses: 38-39 Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else-to the nearby villages-so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Jesus did not set up one mega church in Jerusalem and expect everyone to come there. Jesus was led by the Father to go village to village. The early church also went from town to town and set up small churches that met in the homes of people.
I was recently reading in a book about the church in places like India and China where the growth is rapid. It is estimated that about 30,000 Chinese people become Christians every day. In parts of India thousands of churches have developed in just a few years. These churches generally have no paid clergy and no buildings. They meet in homes like in the book of Acts. They share in leadership, using spiritual gifts, just like in the first century church.
They have quit using large Crusade evangelism because the people would come and be saved or healed and then go home to a village with no church support. They have quit using church buildings because of the cost of building and maintenance and the lack of flexibility. The church is people. The people go to their neighboring towns and start simple services in the home of a respectable citizen. The Spirit of God leads and soon there is one or more small church in that town. That is the way that they have started to do it in Alaska too. The home meetings are cozy, personal and powerful in effect. This same house church movement is exploding in America today. People are choosing to make home meetings primary and large group services in big buildings secondary. This type of movement can move from town to town unhindered by the need of focusing the ministry in one town in one building. It is also hastened by the lack of need of large sums of money for property and full-time clergy.
In this type of ministry the educated and paid clergy become trainers who go from place to place to train the volunteer staff and keep them accountable.
This is the way Jesus did it.
This is the way the disciples did it.
This is the way the first century church did it.
This is the way the rapidly growing persecuted church is doing it…
What about us? Are we going to carry on the traditions of our European ancestors and focus on one building in one location and the people that live around that building? Or are we going to seek God, go where He wants on a moment’s notice, have meetings in homes or public buildings, invite the souls who need the Lord and see the Holy Spirit work in mighty ways?
It seems to me that the church of Jesus Christ should do the ministry of Jesus Christ in the way that Jesus Christ ministered. The end result will be the results that Jesus and his first century church had…we will turn our culture upside down…or right side up!
Do you suppose that God may be calling us to minister in many neighborhoods, not just the one where we have a building?
What about Rewey?
What about Belmont?
What about Dodgeville?
What about Mt. Horeb or Madison?
What about rural neighborhoods?
How do we know that it isn’t God’s will for us to plant a dozen small and effective house churches yet this year? How do we know that we might be called to plant a church in a tough neighborhood in Madison? There is no limit to what God can do through us if we minister in the same way Jesus did.
Jesus had:
FLEXIBLE FACILITIES
MINISTRY MANDATE
PRAYER PRIORITY
TRAVELING TEACHING
I close with the question I began with: If Jesus was called to be the pastor of this church, how would he do the ministry? Would we let Him do it the way He wanted to? Will we let Him do it the way He wants to?
May God help us to follow Jesus rather than European tradition. Amen
I believe that Biblically faithful Episcopalians can learn from the insights that Pastor Olson shares with us in his sermon. We too tend to tie the ministry of our local churches to a building. We have also failed to fully involve the laity in the ministry of the local church. I believe that present crisis in the ECUSA may in part God's way of shaking us out of our complacency and of leading us to embrace the New Testament vision of the local church fully deployed in the cause of the Gospel.
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